Blog Archives

OF FINALES AND PREMIERES…

12/31/2023

As I write this, it is late on New Year’s Eve, 2023. Outside my window, even way out here in the country, the sound of fireworks being exploded can be heard all around. Conversely, inside, only the sounds of the television can be heard.

No, my wife and I are not ringing in the New Year’s attuned to any of the major networks’ coverage of celebrations in Time’s Square, Five Points, or the French Quarter. Rather, we are watching Family Entertainment Television, stylized as FETV, and marketed as "FETV: Real. Family. Entertainment".

Kudos to the programming team there who came up with their creative way of finishing the old year and ushering in the new one. Titled "Never Say Goodbye", it is quite innovative, involving a two-step process. To begin with, they are broadcasting the finales, or final episodes, of several television series on December 31st.

Among these are such classics as "Adam-12", "Barney Miller", "Daniel Boone", "Emergency", "Hazel", "Leave It to Beaver", "Perry Mason", "Quincy", "The Lone Ranger", and "Wagon Train". Tomorrow morning, January 1st, FETV then plans to broadcast the premieres, or initial episodes, of each of these very same classic television series.

Wow! What better way is there in the modern world to symbolize both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day? What better way to demonstrate the age-old principle of “out with the old and in with the new”?

After all, on New Year’s Eve, do we not pause to look back at the past and all its accomplishments? And then on New Year’s Day, do we not change our focus and look forward to the future and all it entails?

For my part, many a time in my life have I had to say good-bye to the old and hello to the new. And in many of these cases, I have welcomed the opportunity to do so!

But even on those occasions when I did not necessarily embrace such an opportunity, the change has still come. Thus, if together, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day symbolize anything, it is this: the old always gives way to the new. Whatever has heretofore been the primary focus inevitably gives way to whatever is next, and destined to succeed it.

That is to say - the new always supplants the old, the yesterday always gives way to the tomorrow, and the finale always succumbs to the premiere!

Given this, as the year 2023 gives way to the year 2024, it behooves each of us to reflect on both the outgoing year and the incoming one. As we do, we rightly ask ourselves what we can celebrate in the old. But also what can we anticipate in the new.

After all, each of these is worth considering. For in truth, it is only in pondering the way in which this past year ended that we can fully appreciate the way in which the new year will unfold.

In my own case, many a previous year has helped to inform, define, and eventually direct an unfolding year. The outgoing one prepared me for the incoming one. The "Old Year’s", if indeed any such designation exists, has invariably helped to prepare me for the "New Year’s".

The Bible affirms just such an approach. The same Book that admonishes us to remember our past also invites us to anticipate our future. The same God Who tells us to "remember the days of old" and to "consider the years now past" (Deuteronomy 32:7) also tells us (in Isaiah 43:19) that He is "doing a new thing" in our lives, that He is "making a way" for us.

As I reflect on the past, I am reminded just how much God has protected me and provided for me. At every step along the way, He has been faithful in His love and grace. And this gives me full confidence that He will do for me in all my tomorrows what He has already done for me in all my yesterdays.

What about you, my friend? Can your yesterday help to inform your tomorrow? Can your past help you to deal with your tomorrow? Given that the very same God Who has cared for me has surely done the same for you, my strong suspicion is that it can.

PROGRAMMING SOURCE:

https://fetv.tv/;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FETV.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/32-7.htm;

https://biblehub.com/isaiah/43-19.htm.

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES!

12/28/2023

Sunny Tsai over at www.FOXBusiness.com reported this week (December 27, 2023) that many couples are flocking to Las Vegas to take advantage of this year's special New Year’s Eve date to get married as it makes up the rare numerical sequence of 1-2-3-1-2-3.

To mark the occasion, a pop-up marriage license bureau has been set up at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas from Dec. 26 through New Year’s Eve. This is the first time the pop-up has been set up at the airport during the December holiday season.

As Sunny reports in her article titled “Las Vegas Airport Hosts Marriage License Bureau Pop-Up Ahead of Special '12-31-23' Date: The Date of New Year's Eve This Year Makes Up A Rare Sequence Of 1-2-3-1-2-3”:

Couples arriving in Las Vegas this week can skip going downtown to get their marriage documents by simply picking them up right after they land. "The marriage certificate here was very easy [to] access. We were able to take the shuttle from the international terminal instead of having to go downtown. It was easier access," said Ellery Mendz, another marriage certificate receiver.

According to the Clark County Marriage License Bureau, 80% of the couples tying the knot in Vegas are from out of state. "Of that 80%, almost 20% are international, so [a] large number of those people come through the airport. We see people coming in their wedding dresses, and we see people coming with their suitcase, so this gives them an opportunity of one less stop before they make it to their marriage ceremony," said Clark County Clerk Lynn Marie Goya.

Couples visiting the pop-up will receive their marriage licenses or vow renewal certificates, along with a NYE-themed keepsake. The pop-up is expected to be extremely busy as the week goes on, especially on New Year’s Eve. "We think it’s going to be one of the biggest days of the year. I would not be surprised if we get 1,000 or 1,200 couples that get married on New Year’s Eve," Goya said.

The pop-up will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day through Sunday. Couples coming to Las Vegas can fill out a pre-application online.

In our own case, my precious wife and I tied the knot in June rather than December. It must have stuck because, on our next anniversary, we will celebrate 41 years of marriage together. Add to that the seven years that we dated beforehand, and we have now been together for 48 years. What can I say? The poor woman is clearly a glutton for punishment!

For my part, the date of my wedding to her back in 1983 will always be special, no matter when it fell on the annual calendar. By God’s grace, we have been given 40 wedding anniversaries together to date. These 40 years have been the best years of my life! I can only hope we will have many, many more.

And even though we were not married on December 31st of that year, four days from now, we will have nonetheless also had 40 New Year’s Eves together. More to the point, five days from now, the Good Lord willing, we will have had 40 New Year’s Days together!

And we both know what that means. It means that we have been given an enormous number of opportunities to start afresh and anew – both as individuals and as a couple.

Christmas and Easter notwithstanding, other than our respective birthdays as individuals and our wedding date as a couple, New Year’s Day is arguably the most important calendar date we celebrate together.

Why? Precisely because of what it represents. Bad habits, failed ventures, discouraging moments, hurtful experiences, and/or any number of other less than desirable things can be dispensed with. They can also be supplanted by better habits, successful ventures, encouraging moments, joyful experiences, and /or any number of wonderful things!

No couple gets through 48 years together without their share of both. And if they do, it is invariably because the latter ever supersedes the former. Likewise, no individual enjoys the full life God has planned for them unless the same thing ever occurs.

As we approach the dawning of another New Year, I trust you will see this as an opportunity to improve upon the relationships you share with others. This is especially true if you have a spouse. But I trust above all that you will see this as an opportunity to improve the life God has for you as an individual.

Over two and a half millennia ago, the Bible tells us how the beloved people of God had undergone a sad succession of misfortunes and disappointments. In response, the Lord moved the Prophet Jeremiah to pen certain powerful words to them. I leave you with them here:

“I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, plans to give you a future and to give you hope.” In other words, no matter what the Children of God had been through, the best years of their lives still lay ahead of them!

I have no idea what you have been through this past year, my friend. Nor do I know what you are now facing. But this much I do know. The God of the Bible still cares for His own. And if you are a child of God, then you are a part of the universal church, the Bride of Christ. As such, I assure you. This coming year with Him can be the best year ever! And each year thereafter can be the best year of your life!

STORY SOURCE:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/las-vegas-airport-marriage-license-pop-up-special-12-31-23-wedding-date.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:

https://biblehub.com/jeremiah/29-11.htm.

SEE ALSO:

https://biblehub.com/niv/ephesians/5.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/19.htm.

THROW OUT THE LIFELINE!

12/25/2023

Amidst the multitudes of headlines vying for our attention this week in the lead up to Christmas, one in particular caught my eye: “Cruise Ship Hit by Rogue Wave during Storm, Loses Ability to Navigate”.

The article, which appeared on www.FOXBusiness.com, was written by Aislinn Murphy with the help of Reuters. To summarize:

A cruise ship was en route to Tilbury, England, from Florø, Norway, when a rogue wave hit it, causing the vessel to temporarily lose power. The MS Maud, which was built two decades ago, weighs more than 16,100 gross tons and spans 445 feet in length and can carry up to 570 people.

While sailing roughly 120 miles off Denmark's west coast and roughly 185 off Britain's east coast, strong winds blasted windows on the bridge of the vessel, allowing water to enter and resulting in a power failure on the bridge, according to the Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.

Fortunately, all 266 passengers and 131 crew members are now safe. Support vessels are working with the ship as it continues to head toward the port city of Bremerhaven in northern Germany for disembarkation. A Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre official reports that another ship was assisting with a tow.

Now, for my part, I’m glad that everyone is now okay. Far too many a ship and far too many more a person have been lost to the vicissitudes of the sea. And while it is true that hundreds of individuals had their Christmas week plans interrupted and that the cruise ship company has a major repair on its hands, these things are of little consequence in comparison to what might have the case. All in all, if it had to happen, things turned out as best as could be hoped.

Still, as I read the story, I could not help but see the relevance to what happened in this story and to the events commemorated in the week it happened. Allow me to explain…

In Genesis chapters 1 and 2, the Bible tells us that God created men and women in His image, and then placed them in this world, setting them off on the path He intended them to travel. But no sooner had this unfolded than we read in Genesis chapter 3 that men and women were blindsided by a deadly tidal wave of sin that put them out of commission and prevented them from reaching the wonderful destination had in mind for them.

Hence, the need for Christmas! For knowing our plight, God came to our rescue. He did this in the Person of His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, Who, according to the New Testament Gospel of John (chapter 3, verse 17) came into the world as a little babe, not to condemn the world, but ultimately to save the world through Him.

Thus it is that the Apostle Paul tells us (in his Second New Testament Letter to the Corinthians (chapter 5, verse 19) that “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them”.

And it was for this very reason that the angel who appeared to Joseph in the first chapter of the New Testament Gospel of Matthew (verse 21) told Joseph that Mary would give birth to a son, and that he was to give that son the name Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins.”

The New Testament term here translated as “Jesus” is the Koine Greek term “Iésous”, which itself is the transliteration of the Old Testament Hebrew term, “Yehoshua” (Jehoshua), contracted to “Joshua” which means “Yahweh saves” (or “Yahweh is salvation”).

I’m quite positive the 397 souls aboard the MS Maud were overjoyed to see a rescue ship from the “Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre” arrive on the scene. I’m equally sure they were thrilled when that ship threw the MS Maud and all aboard a life-line in the form of tow-rope. As a result, their danger was overcome and their salvation was secured.

In like manner, that first Christmas, God was all about reconciling the world to Himself through Christ. He saw our distress; He sent forth His Son; and He threw us a life-line! Only this was not for the salvation of our mere physical bodies, but rather for that of our eternal souls!

And now, as the Apostle John puts it: “To as many as received him, he gave the power to become the children of God!” In other words (as John later puts it, in chapter 10, verse 10), to have life, and to have it both abundantly and eternally!

I conclude with the words of the hymn writer of old, who was moved of God to compose these well-known lyrics:

This is the lifeline, oh, tempest-tossed men,
Baffled by waves of temptation and sin;
Wild winds of passion, your strength cannot brave,
But Jesus is mighty, and Jesus can save.

Jesus is able! To you who are driv’n
Farther and farther from God and from Heav’n,
Helpless and hopeless, o’erwhelmed by the wave,
We throw out the lifeline—’tis, “Jesus can save.”

This is the lifeline, oh, grasp it today!
See, you are recklessly drifting away;
Voices in warning, shout over the wave,
Oh, grasp the strong lifeline, for Jesus can save.

And thus, once again, this Christmas, we who are followers of Christ, “Throw out the lifeline! Throw out the lifeline!”

And why do we do this? Because “Someone is drifting away.” Yes, we “Throw out the lifeline! Throw out the lifeline!” Because “Someone is sinking today.”

STORY SOURCE:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/cruise-ship-hit-by-rogue-wave-during-storm-loses-ability-navigate.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/1.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/2.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/3.htm;
https://biblehub.com/john/3-17.htm;
https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-19.htm;
https://biblehub.com/matthew/1-21.htm;
https://biblehub.com/john/1-12.htm;
https://biblehub.com/john/10-10.htm.

GREEK/HEBREW WORD STUDY SOURCE:

https://biblehub.com/greek/2424.htm.

HYMN SOURCE:

https://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Throw_Out_the_Lifeline/.

THE ORIGINAL LONG PLAYING MESSAGE…

12/21/2023

As I pen this blog, I am both happy and contented. My younger sister and her husband are up from Alabama; and we all went out to dinner together earlier this evening. For any number of reasons, it was good to see her and her husband.

Not least among them are the various Christmas memories we alone still share. For with a father and mother and, now, an older sister in Heaven, we are the only two left to cherish the personal memories of Christmases spent with our immediate family so long ago down on a Georgia farm.

As if in anticipation of this night, as well as this time of year, I recently compiled a playlist on my iPod. (Yes, I am old school and still use one of those outdated devices.) That playlist (aptly named “My Childhood Christmas”) was based upon those same Christmases on that same Georgia farm of so long ago.

You see, for whatever reason, it somehow fell to me to wind up retaining possession of my parents’ old collection of classic 33+1⁄3 rpm LP (or Long Playing) albums. Here while back, I pulled these albums out and attempted to listen to them. Sadly, they were so well worn that the music was barely audible over the scratches acquired through years and years of play on an old living room stereo console.

At first, I tried acquiring a device that converted LP albums to digital music. While the transfer was successful, the audio quality of the final product was no better than the original. Not to be stymied, and after considerable thought, I soon found a way to resolve my dilemma.

I first took note of, and then researched, all of the original albums, recording artists, and/or record companies that were printed on the labels of the actual LP albums. In short order, I had myself a list of the most remembered ones – among them many RCA Victor hits of the early 1960s including “The Robert Shaw Chorale”, “The Voices of Walter Schumann”, “The Mexicali Brass”, “The Harry Simeone Chorale”, and “George Beverly Shea”. In no time flat, I had purchased and downloaded digital versions of all these productions and then loaded them onto my device.

And thus it was, while I was recently listening to these artists, that I once again heard a powerful song by George Beverly Shea (this time on the compilation album “A George Beverly Shea Christmas”, but originally released on his 1956 album “Christmas Hymns”) titled “Put Christ Back Into Christmas”.

Struck by the lyrics, I decided to post them here…

“Don't wish me Merry Xmas
Or Happy Holiday,
Put Christ back into Christmas
On this blessed holy day

Put Christ back into Christmas
Like on that silent night
When the star of Bethlehem
Gave way to new born life.

Let all the world give glory
To Christ the King of Kings
Let children hear the story
Of love our Saviour brings.

Put Christ back into Christmas
Like on that silent night
When the star of Bethlehem
Gave way to new born life.”

Wow! If that was a relevant message way back in 1956, then how much more is it one today, in 2023, nearly three quarters of a century later?!

And so, my friends, irrespective of the current cultural imperative(s), beware the innumerable and insufferable admonition(s) to have either a “Happy Holidays” and/or a “Merry Xmas”!

Either Christmas is about Christ or it is not. Either we, as His followers, are Christians or we or not. Either this time of year is about His coming at Christmastime or it is not.

For my part, I agree with George Beverly Shea - “Don't wish me Merry Xmas, or Happy Holiday”; but rather, “Put Christ back into Christmas”, just “like on that silent night”!

That original silent night, that original Holy night, first pondered by shepherds nearly two millennia ago, and again so many centuries later, by me in my childhood years, and now, yet again by me in my later years, is both ever recurrent and ever demanding.

And as it ever recurs, it continually asks, it continually requests, nay, it continually demands this one thing of us… “Please, please, please… Put Christ back into Christmas!”

After all, is not the Christmas story the original and definitive LP (or Long Playing) message?!

As the Apostle John puts it in the very first chapter of his New Testament Gospel, it was as a result of what transpired that first Christmas, when the Word had become flesh and made His dwelling among us, that God would tell us that “to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”

SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Beverly_Shea;

https://www.discogs.com/master/688573-George-Beverly-Shea-Christmas-Hymns-By-George-Beverly-Shea;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8FOC5GvUCw;

INTERESTING NOTE:

Very few people seem to realize it, but as two separate articles cited by Wikipedia affirm, because of the very large attendance at Billy Graham Crusades throughout the decades, it is estimated that George Beverly Shea sang live before more people than anyone else in all of human history!

Cf.: Melvin L. Butler, "Globalization of Gospel," in Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music, ed. W. K. McNeil (Routledge Press, 2005), p.139; and Don Cusic, The Sound of Light: A History of Gospel Music (Popular Press, 1990), p. 182.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/1.htm.

INTERESTING NOTE NUMBER TWO:

Harry Simeone was the one, in 1958, who first popularized the "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum" and recorded in 1951 by the Austrian Von Trapp Family.) Of course, the song was later adapted into a stop motion television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in 1968.

THE LION’S SHARE…

12/17/2023

I am unapologetically proud of the fact that I raised my sons to be outdoorsmen. As the famed bumper sticker once put it, "Boys who are raised to hunt and fish don't grow up to mug old ladies!"

And thus, many an hour was spent by me with my sons, either out on the lake fishing and/or deep in the woods hunting. In truth, to this very day, some of my most cherished memories are of the two of them dozing off in a deer stand as they sat ensconced in my lap.

These days, of course, they no longer sit in a deer stand, with me or without me. If they sit with anyone, it is with their own sons. All of which is okay with me. As Hank Williams Jr. once put it, they’re just “carrying on an old family tradition”.

Another thing that is different is that they are not quite as bored there as they once were. Seriously, sitting in a deer stand can not only be time consuming, but at times, even down-right boring! An average morning hunt can consume three to four hours, as can an evening hunt. Back in the day, I might take a paperback book with me to help occupy my time. These days, many a hunter takes along his or her cell-phone for similar purposes.

One other difference is that all modern hunters are a little more inclined to know exactly what game is present. Back in the day, we looked for “sign” - a game trail (as a result of repeated traffic by deer), a ground scrape (as a result of a mature buck pawing), a tree rub (as a result of a buck cleaning his antlers of velvet and sharpening them), etc…

While this still happens, deer stand placement today is as likely to be based as much on information obtained from trail cameras as these former things. Trail cameras are motion activated, and take snapshots of any movement triggered by a passing animal.

Thus it is that my oldest son has placed a couple of trail cams in the woods behind our house. We have been dumbfounded to see the sheer number of animals - raccoons, opossums, deer, etc… - that have since had their images captured as they meandered their way across our property in the darkness.

Little wonder, then, that I was so intrigued when my younger son recently sent me a couple of snapshots posted on Instagram by Steven Rinella of www.meateater.com.

The pictures show a sequence in which a typical house cat is seen out prowling, headed past the trail cam and into the thick woods beyond. Shortly thereafter, however, the same camera captures a mountain lion walking in the opposite direction with the very same house cat firmly ensconced in its jaws!

Ouch! The hunter had suddenly become the hunted!

As I viewed these pictures, many things came to mind. The first was that “pride goeth before a fall”! So says the wisest man who ever lived (Solomon) in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs (chapter 16, verse 18). And the admonition of the Apostle Peter in his First New Testament Letter (chapter 5, verses 8) bears this out: “Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

I’m quite sure that the unfortunate little house cat felt it was “large and in charge” as it set out about its nightly routine. No doubt it was jubilant as its day of sleeping gave way to the unfolding darkness, which afforded it the long anticipated opportunity to go forth and conquer whatever poor, unfortunate creature it encountered. Alas, of course, the same held true for the cougar. Apparently, cats do love cats!

Of course, many other Biblical references to lions abound. Among them… In the Old Testament, Samson slew a lion among the Philistines (Judges, chapter 14) and Daniel entered a den of lions in Persia (Daniel, chapter 6). In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul also referred to being thrown to the lions by the Romans (I Corinthians, chapter 15).

Still, the primary thought that came to my mind had to do with this particular time of year. After all, it is the Christmas season. And as the holiday season unfolds, the world seems as much askew as it has ever been - indeed even more so. So much so that one cannot help but wonder whether evil, so frequent and so abundant and so brash and (above all) so vile as it is in its modern assertions, is inevitably destined to be victorious!

Indeed, it seems as if the time has come for evil it to confidently go forth and conquer.

And yet, the Bible still has the last word! As Sammy Hall once boldly proclaimed, “I’ve read the back of the book and we win!” How right he was. For we read in the New Testament Book of Revelations (chapter 5, verse 5): “Weep not! For behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has conquered!”

Satan and all his minions may well see this present age as their heyday. He (and they) may very well believe that they are fully in control as they venture forth to stalk, attack, and assault whatever and whoever they happen upon. But rest assured, any such assumption is shortsighted!

For the Bible clearly shows us just Who triumphs in the end. And the record of this is documented, not in the memory card of some temporal video camera, but in the annals of all eternity. And that is reflected in the victory of none other than the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ!

If Christmas means nothing else, my friend, surely it means this. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” For this means that not only He, but all who follow Him, will henceforth enjoy the lion’s share, which is to live forever, triumphant and victorious!

SOURCES:

https://www.themeateater.com/;

https://www.instagram.com/stevenrinella/.

SCRIPTURES:

https://biblehub.com/proverbs/16-18.htm;

https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_peter/5.htm;

https://biblehub.com/revelation/5-5.htm;

https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm.

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE!

12/12/2023

A December 8, 2023 article published on www.FoxNews.com recently reported that grocery bills have surged almost 250% since 1990! The article, written by Madeline Coggins was titled “'Home Alone' Fans Shocked by Almost 250 Percent Increase in Grocery Prices Since Iconic Shopping Trip: Kevin McCallister's Grocery List Has Gone From $19.83 in 1990 to $72.28 in 2023”.

It recalls how, after being left alone for the holidays, eight-year-old Kevin McCallister famously went grocery shopping in the 1990 classic film “Home Alone”, purchasing a large haul of food and everyday household items for under $20. However, these days, McCallister would need a lot more in his piggy bank…

The items he purchased included a half-gallon of milk, a half-gallon of orange juice, a TV dinner, a loaf of bread, frozen macaroni and cheese, laundry detergent, cling wrap, toilet paper, a pack of army men, and dryer sheets. At the time, the cost to the character, played by Macaulay Culkin, was $19.83. Last year, that same grocery list cost $44.40. And this year, it now costs a whopping $72.28!

Ouch!

And yet, according to the old adage, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Prices may well have increased; but the staples (with the possible exception of the plastic army men) and the need for them arguably remain the same.

This is clearly true of the world since 1990. The products purchased then are arguably still everyday necessities; even if the prices have soared. And if it is true that the world has both changed and stayed the same over the last c. 25 years, how much more is it true of the world over the last two thousand years?!

The world has changed a lot since the first century. After all, the once vaunted Roman Empire is no more. She has been replaced by a long succession of would -be world conquerors, all of whom are now in the dustbin of history. The nation of Israel, once conquered and dispersed by Rome, disappeared for much of this time, until it was miraculously reconstituted in 1948.

Along the way, countless political, economic, military, social, and historical philosophies and/or entities have come and gone. And little wonder, for none of these have met the most basic need of men and women, which has steadfastly remained the same!

You see, the basic need of men and women in every place and at all times throughout history has never been physical, social, economic, or political. Rather it is spiritual! That need, to have their relationship with Almighty God, broken by sin, fully restored, is the most basic need that every single human being in all of history has faced. It remains an everyday necessity to this very day!

And yet, ironically, the price for that necessity has already been paid. It was satisfied through the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of God’s One and Only Son, Jesus Christ. Indeed, that is the very reason for which He came into this world, which we celebrate at Christmas.

The more things change, the more they stay the same – especially as it concerns one’s eternal destiny! I trust you have found the One Who alone can meet your most basic need.

The Apostle Peter (in the New Testament Book of Acts, chapter 4, verses 8-12) put it this way when he was called before the ruling authorities of his day:

“Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Has your most basic need been met? I know mine has, in the person and work of Jesus Christ. I trust you, like me, have called upon Him to meet that need. After all, some things, among them our need for a Savior, never change!

ARTICLE SOURCE:

https://www.foxnews.com/media/home-alone-fans-shocked-250-percent-increase-grocery-prices-iconic-shopping-trip. According to the article, FOX Business News’ Megan Henney and FOX News’ Dana Blanton also contributed to this report.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:

https://biblehub.com/niv/acts/4.htm.

LEST WE FORGET!

12/7/2023

My generation is familiar with the phrase “Remember Nine Eleven!” It has helped to sustain America in her lengthy war against terrorism. Long before that, the catchphrase of “Remember the Alamo!” was a pivotal motivation in Texas’ battle for independence from Mexico, inspiring the so-called “Texians” as they then fought and won the Battle of San Jacinto.

This was followed by the one of my great grandparents generation, “Remember the Maine!”, which helped rouse the nation in the Spanish-American War. In like manner, my grandparents and parents were later spurred along in their own patriotism with the phrase “Remember Pearl Harbor!” during World War Two.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 gave us the U.S. holiday known as “Patriot Day”. Texas celebrates “Alamo Day” each year on March 6. Though the battleship U.S.S. Maine exploded and sank on February 15, 1898 in Havana Harbor, I am not aware of a special day devoted to the incident. But December 7, 1941, referred to by President Franklin Roosevelt as “a date which will live in infamy”, has been embraced by our nation as “Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day”.

Today, 12/07/2023, is this very date; and it marks exactly 82 years since that singularly infamous day unfolded. Sadly, many Americans have long since forgotten about the events surrounding when and how, according to FDR, “America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan”. For this reason, I am thankful that a few news organizations and television networks still choose to recognize this day.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM), in particular, spent the day showing classic films surrounding the events of that day – among them “Back to Bataan”, “They Were Expendable”, “From Here to Eternity”, and “Pearl Harbor”. As one watches these films, he or she can only imagine what it must have been like to be present and experience the Japanese onslaught. The sacrifice of so many brave men and women is something that deserves to be recounted on a regular basis by a grateful nation.

While some 82,000 service personnel were estimated to be present on or near Oahu that fateful day back in 1941, we are told that only about 25 are still alive today. And a handful of these centenarians gathered at Pearl Harbor earlier today to remember those 2390 comrades who laid down their lives that eventful day on behalf of the nation and its people that they loved.

In the New Testament gospel of John (chapter 15, verse 13, KJV), Jesus Himself told us that: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” The Contemporary English Version translates that verse this way: “The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them.” May we never forget the service and sacrifice of those who did just that on December 7, 1941!

Oh, and one more thing…

Irish statesman Edmund Burke is often misquoted as having said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” But it was British statesman Winston Churchill who said it best when he wrote: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

If history teaches us anything, surely it is to be vigilant! As a nation, we were caught unprepared on February 15, 1898 at Havana Harbor, on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, and again on September 11, 2001, little more than a stone’s throw from the harbors of Manhattan. May that never happen again. Never, ever! May we well remember!

SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Alamo;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Day;

https://nationaltoday.com/alamo-day/;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Pearl_Harbor_Remembrance_Day;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Infamy_speech.

https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2023/12/central-oregon-is-home-to-2-of-last-25-survivors-of-pearl-harbor-attack.html;

https://liberalarts.vt.edu/magazine/2017/history-repeating.html.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/john/15-13.htm;

Consider also the admonition of the Apostle Peter in his First New Testament Letter (chapter 5, verse 8), when he reminded us that our enemy prowls like a lion seeking whom he may devour!

Cf.: https://biblehub.com/1_peter/5-8.htm.

LET IT FLOW, LET IF FLOW, LET IT FLOW…

12/3/2023

As I write this, it is just a little over three weeks until Christmas. And quite predictably, the seasonal music now abounds. One such song goes thusly...

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful;
And since we've no place to go,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

My blog post today is a play on those lyrics. Allow me to explain.

As a child, I had lots of heroes. But few of them compared with a modern day knight named Marion Robert Morrison. Never heard of him? Sure you have; for his stage name was none other than John Wayne.

“The Duke”, as he was widely and affectionately known in the film industry, was undeniably a true American icon. He was the quintessential cowboy, the undisputed king of westerns, and the unrivaled star of many another movie.

According to Wikipedia:

“His career flourished from the silent era of the 1920s through the American New Wave, as he appeared in a total of 179 film and television productions. He was among the top box-office draws for three decades, and appeared with many other important Hollywood stars of his era. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Wayne as one of the greatest male stars of classic American cinema.”

It should come as no surprise, then, that when a certain television network recently announced its upcoming “John Wayne Marathon”, both I (and my DVR) took notice. But as I programmed in the films I (we) intended to record, I was struck by something I had not heretofore grasped. That was just how many of his films contained the term “Rio” in the title. These include “Rio Grande”, “Rio Bravo”, and “Rio Lobo”.

Now, to be sure, Hollywood is replete with sequels whose titles include the repetition of a given term. Such franchises as “Star Wars”, “Indiana Jones”, “Die Hard”, and “Jaws” all come to mind. But in each case, these all involved the continuation of a given story line. By contrast, the various “Rio” titles of Wayne’s films all involved separate and stand-alone plots.

Still, I am struck by the notion that they each revolve around a given element: that of rivers. After all, the term “rio” is simply the Spanish term for the English term “river”. And thus, if there was ever a theme to encapsulate John Wayne’s own large volume of work on the silver screen, perhaps it is that of a river. After all, even in those films where it is not part of the title, we see the river theme on display over and over again.

Who can forget the vast Arkansas river being crossed with great effort by little Mattie Ross (played by Kim Darby) in the only movie for which Wayne won an Academy Award, 1969’s “True Grit”? Or what about the classic sequel to that very movie, “Rooster Cogburn”, in which Wayne must transport a spinster named “Eula Goodnight” (played by Katherine Hepburn), to safety down a long, winding, and treacherous river?

These are but two of the many, many examples I could cite of the recurrence of river themes in the Duke’s movies. For whatever reason, they seem to be quite prevalent.

Of course, Wayne himself was no coward when it came to stating and sharing his views - be they political, social, or otherwise. In that sense, he, himself, was also a river. For out of him inevitably flowed his personal convictions and views on a plethora of subjects.

And in this sense, at least, is not John Wayne just a symbol for each and every one of us? After all, do we not all ultimately send downstream an assorted concoction of our accumulated values, opinions, and preferences? I know I do.

The Bible, too, makes much of the imagery of rivers. There, in an often arid and desolate land, such waters alone make possible, not only life, but life in abundance. Such examples include Psalm 1, Psalm 46, and Revelation 22. I have personally been to the lands of the Bible on many occasions. And I can testify that where there are rivers, there is life; and conversely, where there are no rivers, there is also no life.

Does it not, therefore, behoove those of us who have experienced the benefit of life due to our association with the River of Life, Himself - the very Son of God, Jesus Christ - to share that life-giving hydration with those who are still spiritually parched and thirsting to death?

Remember, Jesus, Himself, told the woman at the well that “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

I, for one, am grateful that I have drunk of that life-giving spring. And now, I gladly let the excess brimming from me overflow downstream to any and all would-be recipients.

Back in the day, we used to gather in our youth group at our local Baptist Church and sing these words…

I’ve Got A River Of Life Flowing Out Of Me
Makes The Lame To Walk And The Blind To See,
Opens Prison Doors, Sets The Captives Free
I’ve Got A River Of Life Flowing Out Of Me.

Spring Up, O Well
Within My Soul,
Spring Up, O Well
And Make Me Whole,
Spring Up, O Well
And Give To Me
That Life Abundantly!

There’s A Fountain Flowing From The Savior’s Side,
All My Sins Forgiven In That Precious Tide,
Jesus Paid The Price When For Me He Died,
There’s A Fountain Flowing From The Savior’s Side.

There’s A Risen Savior At The Father’s Throne,
Ever Interceding For His Very Own,
Pouring Down The Blessings That Are His Alone.
There’s A Risen Savior At The Father’s Throne.

There’s A Holy Comforter Who’s Sent From Heaven,
All The Glorious Gifts Are His, And Have Been Given,
He’ll Show Us More Of Jesus ‘Til The Veil Is Riven.
There’s A Holy Comforter Who’s Sent From Heaven.

There’s A Land Of Rest That We May Enter Now,
Freed From All Our Works And Freed From Satan’s Power,
Just Resting In The Lord Each Moment And Each Hour.
There’s A Land Of Rest That We May Enter Now.

There’s Full Salvation Wrought For You And Me,
From Faith To Faith And Glory To Glory Eternally,
O Lord, Just Take This Life And Let Me Live For Thee.
There’s A Full Salvation Wrought For You And Me.

All these years later, I still have a river of life flowing out of me. And I hope, thenceforward, to… “Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow!”

SOURCES:

CHRISTMAS SONG LYRICS:

https://genius.com/Christmas-songs-let-it-snow-lyric.

JOHN WAYNE STATISTICS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/john/4-14.htm.

PRAISE SONG LYRICS:

https://divinehymns.com/lyrics/ive-got-a-river-of-life-song-lyrics/.

LASTLY, SEE ALSO:

https://www.cleoejacksoniii.com/my-ongoing-thoughts/think-twice;

https://www.cleoejacksoniii.com/my-ongoing-thoughts/i-love-this-place.

(If nothing else, this proves that great minds do, indeed, think alike. Over the years, John Wayne produced three "Rio" movies; and over the years, intentionally or not, I have now produced three "John Wayne" posts.)